Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Youth take the Stage in the Proyekt

It's aboutfriendship. It's about appreciating each other's talents. It's about creating something fun together. It's about accomplishing one big Proyekt,The Project!For the past four years, hundreds of teenagers have passed through the curtain of HaProyekt, The Project, a yearly production, written and performed by teenagers from Efrat and Gush Etzion. Any young people who wish to get involved can find a place in the Proyekt, on stage or off. In this year's Proyekt, there were about 30 kids on stage, and there were about 30 stage hands moving all the sets and scenery around. Teens were in the sound and lighting booth too.Produced and directed by Yonatan Levi, the Proyekt gives teens a place to be creative, clever, adorable (oops, I meant cool, of course).Yonatan said that the Proyekt functions totally on donations. After producing shows for the past nine years, i can attest to the fact that the most innovation comes when you have no money in your budget. Because they don't get regular funding from any official body, Yonatan Levi thanked all those who helped them create The Project year after year - Gush Etzion's Early Childhood Center gave them space for scene painting and storage, the library gave them space too, the Derech Avot school let them meet there, Matnas Gush Etzion gave them the stage, sound/lighting pro Yair Balams helped with their tech needs, as especially did Yehuda Margolis, Rebbetzin Riskin's clothing gemach gave them costumes, etc.According to Yonatan, almost 3500 people have seen the Proyekt over the past five years. About 60 young people participate in each season's show, writing the script and music, making costumes and scenery, and handling PR and tickets. This year's writers included Micha HaCohen, Meir Cohen, Yonatan Levi, Roi Landau and Adiel Kahan. These are very talented young people - their script, which followed real families through their daily routine of going to work, school, the Mall, etc. was very clever. The performers were just delightful.The Proyekt rehearsed for six months before they went on stage. The kids themselves also filmed the videos and "commercials" included in the show.Yonatan noted that he'd like more kids involved, and he'd like to do more shows if there's an audience. As I said, the show was adorable, I mean, cool. It was filled with screaming young people. I think if it performed once more, it could be filled with screaming old people. Adults have a sense of humor too, you know.Have a look at Voices Gush Etzion TV's clip of this year's HaProyekt: